Some Alone Tme
by Guybrush007
Summary: When Cloud and Tifa head into the battle with Bahamut to put a stop to Kadaj's madness, Tifa realizes a change has come over the one she loves. Written out of a mad desire to write. TifaxCloud, T for some mild language to be safe.


And so here I am, trying to get my creative juice flowing when I decided to watch a certain fight scene from Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. You know, the one with Bahamut?

Anyways, as I watched the mushiest part of the film (note sarcasm), as Tifa rode away on the back of Cloud's motorcycle I thought this: what might have Tifa or Cloud been thinking during that ride? What might they have said? And so I realized: hell, I'll write a one-shot about it! (Note: I have taken the poetic license of combining the subbed version and the dubbed version to make use of some quotes from both; it only lasts for a couple lines here, so if you've got a problem with it, shut up and take it. )

And here it is!

* * *

**Some Alone Time**

"It's easier now," Cloud said softly.

_Huh?_ Tifa thought, confused.

"I was ready to drag myself along until there was nothing left; now, though, I feel… lighter. I think maybe I lost some weight, all that dilly-dallying and shilly-shallying," Cloud continued, almost cheerfully.

Tifa realized what the object of her affection and devotion for the past few years was saying. _He's realized that it wasn't his fault… that it was never his fault…_ she thought happily, allowing a small smile to peek through despite their situation concerning a large, familiar-looking dragon hovering about the city wreaking havoc.

"I'm gonna go back to the bar with Marlene. We'll see you there, won't we, Cloud?" Denzel said as he made to leave, looking hopefully at his idol.

Cloud met Denzel's stare for a moment before nodding in affirmation, a warm feeling playing about in his stomach at the sight of the boy who considered him a father.

Then he turned and straddled his motorcycle. Not needing to be told and not one to pass up a free ride, Tifa got on behind him. When Cloud felt that she was settled in he gunned the engine, peeling around in a 180-spin to head to where his friends battled the great dragon.

Not one to dilly-dally, Cloud gunned the engine even harder.

However, he hadn't remembered that when someone riding on the back of a motorcycle experiences a sudden increase in acceleration, a very natural reaction occurs.

Without any warning given by his blonde-topped skull, Tifa's warm and lithe form pressed up against his back, her arms circling around his waist where her hands settled in a hug around his chest.

Shocked wasn't a strong enough word for Cloud's feelings at that moment.

"Cloud…" Tifa whispered as they hurtled through the crowded streets. Suddenly, with that one word, steering the motorcycle around the feeling population of his home didn't require his attention anymore, and Cloud tilted his head to catch a glimpse of Tifa as she rested her head against his back.

"I've missed you so much, Cloud… even when you were around, I… I missed you," Tifa whispered softly and, despite the roar of the engine and the screams of the people, Cloud heard her perfectly. His heart quickened.

Then it stopped altogether when she somehow pressed closer against him, so close that he was totally and completely aware of her comforting presence. He had forgotten that feeling…

"But now your back…" Tifa continued. "Your back, and now we can be a family again… can't we?" she asked softly, not expecting a response.

Cloud, for the first time since the death of his best friend, Zack, smiled.

"Yeah, Tifa. We can be a family again," he answered, and she gasped.

"I didn't think you could hear me," she admitted, and though Cloud couldn't see it he could feel the warmth of her blush through his trench coat.

"The mighty and powerful Tifa, master of the arts martial, blushing?" Cloud said playfully. "And I shouldn't be able to hear you over this racket, but it's like your voice is the only thing I _can_ hear," he observed as he swerved onto a side street that would take them to the dragon quicker, who was now stooping into a dive.

Tifa was shocked. "Cloud, what's gotten into you? Was that a joke?" she asked, still surprised by the sudden change in the blonde and wondering whether she was completely happy with it.

"I honestly don't know," Cloud offered uselessly as he swerved back onto a main street. "Most of me feels the same as I usually do, but there's this… feeling of lightness in my stomach…."

He rubbed the area indicated as if to check to see if it was still there. However, his hand was intercepted in its search by a softer, yet undeniably firm, hand which curled around his own, trapping it.

"Cloud," Tifa said. She only said his name, but to Cloud it was as if she had an entire conversation with him through that one word. The amount of feeling in that one word she spoke was overwhelming to the ex-SOLDIER, who now saw so much clearer.

"Yeah, Teef?" he answered, falling back on an old nickname he had used for her when they were younger. He felt her smile into his back.

"I don't know what happened to you exactly, but I'm… glad. I'm so happy for you, Cloud," Tifa said contentedly, snuggling into his back. "I'm so happy, because now we can be one big happy family: you, me, Marlene, and Denzel…" she trailed off.

Cloud nodded, then looked up to make sure they were headed in the right direction.

The dragon was no closer than it was a few minutes ago. Cloud expressed this in a manner more akin to a certain chain-smoking spear-wielding drunken pilot.

"God-dammit! Geez, how fast to I have to go to catch up with that-" Cloud said, and before he could continue Tifa squeezed just hard enough to let him know he was about to cross a line of propriety.

But since Cloud was, after all, a SOLDIER, she had to squeeze pretty hard.

"Ow! Teef, what the hell?" Cloud demanded indignantly. Tifa smiled.

"Shut up, Cid," was her reply. Cloud shook his head.

"But Teef, it's like that monster is-" he began to explain, but a soft hand once again ruined his intended action, this time by clamping over his mouth firmly.

"Relax," Tifa said. "We're almost there, so just steer better!" she added.

Cloud snorted. "And now your telling me how to drive; we're already acting like an old married couple," he said, only half-joking.

Tifa suddenly pulled away, and Cloud got worried. "Tifa?" he asked, concerned.

Tifa smiled sadly. "It's nothing… look: it's time."

And indeed it was; Cloud skidded to a halt beneath a steel structure which appeared to be a frame for a new skyscraper. _Good-bye steel frame,_ he thought sadly, doubting its ability to survive the battle.

Then he realized what Tifa had labeled as 'nothing'.

_Well, I've been putting it off for awhile, but its never too late to start something!_ He reasoned in his head.

Before Tifa could jump into the fight, he grabbed her shoulder and spun her around.

"Cloud, what is it-" Tifa began to ask. But her question was cut off by the last thing she ever expected to feel.

Cloud's lips on hers.

It was a sensation like any other Tifa had ever experienced. Soft and warm, she never felt more secure.

Cloud pulled away gently, meeting Tifa's very shocked almond-brown eyes with his blue-green ones. He smiled again.

"I know we've got some catching up to do and that we've skipped some parts, but… I think we really have a shot at being an old married couple. Whaddya say?" he said hopefully.

She stared at his for a moment, then she blinked away some tears and kissed him fiercely, pulling away soon after, leaving Cloud in a daze.

"Do you have any idea how much of an idiot you are?" Tifa demanded, causing the great warrior to cringe. "You ask a girl out first, date for a few years, and _then_ propose!" she yelled, unable to inflect any amount of anger into her voice.

Cloud noticed this, and his grin became sly. "Well, I figured since we already have kids-"

Tifa smacked his arm, a smack which he blocked then grabbed, pulling her into an embrace.

"I love you, Tifa," he confessed. "I have for awhile, but…"

Tifa squeezed him tighter. "I knew… I knew all along. I loved you too, and I love you now…"

Cloud pulled away to arms length, holding Tifa's shoulders.

A large explosion drew their attention away from each other. Tifa grinned at Cloud.

"We've got time," she said playfully. Cloud nodded, reverting to his usually serious demeanor. He turned and ran to face this latest threat to the happiness of his friends.

As he ran, he had to fight down the widest smile he had ever let get through his façade.

_Time…_ he thought happily, and as he fought the dragon his thoughts were dominated by a black-haired martial artist, that playful gleam twinkling in her eyes.

* * *

And so it ends, shorter than I hoped. Read, review, whatever you please, I just wanted to write it; if you enjoyed it, lemme know! Hell, if you hated it, lemme know. 


End file.
